Cord equalizer



Get. 15, 1957 s. RosENBAuM v CORD EQUALIZER Original Filed Feb. 21, 1952 INVENTOR ILL. w Fkocacs ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,809,409 CORD EQUALIZER Harry S. Rosenbanm, Baltimore, Md., assignor to The Eastern Venetian Blind Company, Baltimore, Md., a corporation of Maryland Original application February 21, 1952, Serial No. 272,860, now Patent No. 2,703,447, dated March 3, 1955. Divided and this application January 26, 1955, Serial No. 484,239

2 Claims. (Cl. 24-429) This invention relates to Venetian blinds, and more particularly to an equalizer for the lift cord of a Venetian blind.

This application is a division of copending application Serial No. 272,860, filed February 21, 1952, entitled Cord and Tape Cutter and Method, now matured as U. S. Patent No. 2,703,447, issued March 8, 1955.

In the usual Venetian blind construction, there is provided a looped cord which leads upwardly to the head bar of the rail and the ends of the cord pass down through openings in the slats of the blind and are attached to the bottom bar of the blind in some convenient manner.

The cord is known as a lift cord, as the blind may be I raised or lowered by manipulating the cord.

In order that both ends of the blind are raised or lowered simultaneously, the looped end of the cord must be maintained in clamped relation, thereby equalizing the pull on the bottom bar of the blind. This clamping action is usually accomplished by a small plate known as an equalizer. It has been customary for this plate to be a fiat stamping formed with two openings through which the cord members are required to be threaded from the loop end thereof. The threading of the cord through the equalizer is a time-consuming job.

It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the necessity for threading the lift cord through the equalizer by providing a novel form of equalizer.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a simple method of assembling an equalizer and lift cord eliminating the necessity for threading the lift cord through the equalizer.

Other objects and the nature and advantages of the instant invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is an elevational view of a Venetian blind with the equalizer in position on the lift cord;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the equalizer;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the equalizer in process of being assembled to the cord;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the assembled equalizer and cord; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 55 of Fig. 4.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the lift cord 10 of the Venetian blind is shown as looped at 11, extending upwardly from the looped end through the head bar 12 and downwardly through the slats 13. The bottom ends of the lift cord are attached to the bottom bar 14. The tilt cord is represented by numeral 15.

The equalizer 16 is shown assembled to the lift cord in Fig. 1 at the point indicated and serves to hold the bottom bar in horizontal position so that the two sides of the blind will rise equally as the lift cord is actuated. Heretofore, the equalizer has consisted of a piece of material having a pair of openings through which the double strand of cord beginning at looped end 11 is inserted and pulled through until the equalizer is at the proper height.

2,809,409 Patented Oct. 15, 1957 According to the present invention, when the position of the equalizer 16 on the lift cord has been determined, it can be attached directly at that point, eliminating the necessity for the threading step.

The equalizer 16, in accordance with this invention, is punched from a sheet of material, such as metal or any other suitable ductile material that can be bent without snapping off. The equalizer blank is provided with two cut-out portions 18, 20, at each end thereof separated by a pair of tabs 22 extending inwardly from opposite sides of the equalizer to a point near the center thereof. The two tabs 22 are bent at to the plane of the equalizer as shown in Fig. 3. In use, the doubled cord is placed between the upstanding tabs 22 over the body of the equalizer 16 and the tabs are then bent downward until they are in the same plane as the equalizer body as shown in Fig. 4. The cords in this position pass over the equalizer body on the left, under the tabs at the center and over the equalizer body at the right. In this manner, the cords are properly positioned relative to one another at the predetermined location.

The assembly of the equalizer on the lift cord may be accomplished prior to assembly of the blind, if desired, or at any time after asembly. The tabs 22 may be bent by means of any suitable tool, such as a pliers. When the tabs 22 have been bent to the position shown in Fig. 4, the cord is engaged in a clamping manner by the equalizer and relative movement of the cord members as they are handled or manipulated is prevented. Utilizing this invention, it is obvious that the equalizer may be applied to the cord members simply and without the necessity for threading the cord therethrough, and may be located readily at any point on the lift cord.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore the invention is not limited to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An equalizer for Venetian blind lift cords comprising a flat blank provided with two cut-out portions at each end thereof, and a pair of tabs extending inwardly from opposite sides of said blank separating said cut-out portions, said tabs being adapted to be bent between a position where said tabs are at right angles to said blank and a closed position where the tabs are in the same plane as the blank.

2. An equalizer for Venetian blind lift cords comprising an elliptically shaped body, said body having an elliptically shaped opening therein and oppositely disposed elongated sides and a pair of tabs extending inwardly from the opposite elongated sides of said body into the central portion of said opening thereby leaving a portion of the opening at each end thereof large enough to receive said lift cords, said tabs being adapted to be bent between a position where said tabs are at right angles to said body, leaving said entire elliptically shaped opening available to receive said lift cords, and a closed position where said tabs are in the same plane as the body leaving only the portion of the opening at each end uncovered.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 47,603 Nelson May 2, 1865 356,116 Garfield Ian. 18, 1887 607,153 Woodward July 12, 1898 1,461,900 Hanft July 17, 1923 2,438,101 Wright Mar. 16, 1948 

